Cornell Clean-up

Rake leaves, pull weeds, enjoy donuts and coffee, and help keep Cedar Mill beautiful.
Volunteers will be cleaning up sidewalks and medians along Cornell Road between Saltzman and Murray from 7-9 am on Saturday, October 5. Donuts, coffee and water will be provided.

The group will meet in the overlook area just west of A Cut Above, but if you get there late, just pull up and pitch in!

This cleanup event, sponsored by the Cedar Mill Business Association, is part of the group’s effort to “take the place of a city” in keeping our downtown area attractive. CMBA members and others have also donated money to hang and maintain flower baskets during the summer.

The Downtown Beautification Committee of CMBA is seeking new members. You don’t have to be a CMBA member to participate in the cleanup, though. For further details, call Joanne Hollister at 503-701-4005.

Fall native-plant sale October 5 at Tualatin Hills Nature Park

A native-plant sale from 10-2 October 5 will benefit Friends of the Tualatin Hills Nature Park. More than 100 varieties of plants will be available. Staff from Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District and volunteers will be available to answer questions.

"Planting now gives your trees, shrubs and plants a head start for next spring and summer, said Karen Munday, program coordinator at the Interpretive Center of the Nature Park. "Winter rains do the watering for you. While growth isn't noticeable on top (during winter), roots are getting established in the soil below."

Native-plant landscapes require much less care, water, fertilizer and pesticides than non-native ones. And they are good for wildlife.

Proceeds from the sale will help fund park improvements and educational programs. The Nature Park is at 15655 SW Millikan Way in Beaverton. Admission is free. For more information, call the park's Interpretive Center at 503-629-6350.

Estate sale in Bauer Woods October 4-5 will benefit charities

An estate sale to benefit animal and children's charities will be held from 9-1 October 4 and 5 in Cedar Mill at 3010 NW Bauer Woods Dr. Items for sale include watercolor paintings, tall ship models, die cast car models, a collection of knives and daggers, tools, costume jewelry, household items, a men's bike and more.

Garage Sale at Skyline Grange: “Everything & The Kitchen Sink”

Friday-Saturday, October 4-5, 9-5 at the Skyline Grange, 11275 NW Skyline Blvd
(0.1 miles west of Newberry Rd or 1.5 miles east of NW Cornelius Pass Rd)

The sale is a fundraiser for Skyline Grange. We are motivated to make this our biggest and best sale.

Lots of donations from our colorful, semi-rural Skyline neighborhood make for a truly unique sale. We strive to offer clean, functioning items. Great prices for a good cause.

October 5 is 10th-anniversary No Ivy Day

The No Ivy League invites volunteers to its tenth annual No Ivy Day work parties on October 5 from 9-noon, followed by an anniversary party from 12:30-2. One of several groups will pull invasive English ivy in the morning at Sunlight Condos HOA Natural Area, 6426 SW Barnes Road in Portland. This is a flat, forested area near Sylvan Creek. Clippers, loppers and gloves will be available.

Washington County Public Affairs Forum

Are you interested in local politics and public affairs? It can be much more rewarding than the agony that is our national political scene these days. The WCPAF has been bringing local “movers and shakers,” along with a variety of experts in various topics, to county residents for many years.

The group meets at the Peppermill Restaurant in Aloha, 17455 SW Farmington Rd. NOTE: this is a new location! Meetings start with an “order your own” lunch (optional) and time to mingle from 11:30-noon. Programs run from noon-1 pm.

Little Store remodel, expansion to be discussed at October 8 meeting

There will be a neighborhood meeting at 7 pm on October 8 to consider a proposal to remodel and enlarge the “Little Store,” located at 8998 SW Leahy Road, and its second-floor apartment. The 0.21-acre property is in a transit-oriented land-use district. The meeting will occur at West Tualatin View Elementary School, 8800 SW Leahy Road. The meeting is open to anyone interested in hearing about the project.

Seven-lot subdivision under consideration on West Haven Drive

A meeting occurred the evening of October 1 to discuss a proposed seven-lot subdivision on a 0.45-acre lot at 9021 SW West Haven Drive, in a neighborhood off SW 90th, behind St. Vincent’s Medical Center. The site is in a transit-oriented residential district, zoned for 12 to 18 units per acre, in CPO 1.

River City House of Praise

Beaverton School District recaps its goals through 2015

Beaverton School District is at the middle of a five-year plan that continues through 2015. Its goals include having all students show continuous progress toward personal learning goals, which are developed in collaboration with teachers and parents. The plan includes preparing students for success in post-secondary education and careers.

The school district is nationally recognized for high student and staff achievement and innovative programs, according to Melissa Larson in the district’s office of Communications & Community Involvement. Beaverton’s is the third-largest school district in Oregon, with 51 schools, nearly 40,000 students and 4,300 staff.

The district teaches students to learn and act on their learning using a rhyming mnemonic: “Think, Know, Act, Go.” The idea is to think creatively and critically; know relevant information; take self-directed and collaborative action, and go in search of problems and solutions locally and globally.

Beaverton Family Resource Center reopens at school district office to assist local homeless families

State funds from the Oregon Legislature have paid for an additional year of operation of Beaverton Family Resource Center, which links homeless families to the providers of such services as food, clothing and housing. The center reopened Sept. 30 at its former location: Beaverton School District Central Administration building, 16550 SW Merlo Road. It is open to the community daily from 9:30-4, except on Wednesdays, when it is open later from 11-7.

Ruth Iliaifar has returned as the clerical assistant. Paulina Salgado is the new director of the center. For details about the resource center, call the school district Teaching & Learning Department, 503-591-4413.

Make pumpkin-theme project with Garden Club October 16

Garnet Ascher and floral designers and judges from Cedar Mill Garden Club will lead a public, hands-on design project with pumpkins at 11:30 am Wednesday, October 16, at Beaverton Community Center, Room 100, 12350 SW 5th St., across from Beaverton City Library.

Attendees should bring materials including a small, hollowed-out pumpkin for their own creations. Other materials to consider bringing: long-lasting vegetables or fruits; curly willow; succulents; mosses and greenery; fall flowers; corn shucks, or a candle. Those who have enough greenery and fall flowers to share are invited to do so. It is helpful to bring gloves and clippers. The club will provide Oasis floral-design foam.

Attendees should hollow their pumpkins 2-3 days in advance and not put any water inside the shells afterward. For further information about the club, call Barb Cushman, president, at 503-649-7741, or visit the web page: www.thecedarmillgardenclub.org.

Never Again! Echoes from Auschwitz’

Book event October 8, Beaverton History Center

Alter Wiener is a Holocaust survivor, author, speaker, and Portland-area resident who has lived in Oregon since 2000. He has shared his story of survival and hope with more than 800 audiences. At 7 pm on Tuesday, October 8, he will appear at Beaverton History Center, 12412 SW Broadway St. The event is free. Donations are welcomed.

Weiner survived 35 months in Nazi concentration camps. He late wrote, “64735: From a Name to a Number— A Holocaust Survivor’s Autobiography.” Signed copies of his book will be on sale after his presentation.

He was born to what he describes as a very religious family on October 8, 1926, in Chrzanów, Poland, a small town near the German border. When he was young, “we had a relatively good life,” he said, “not lacking anything that was available in those times.

“In retrospect, it seems to me that life in those days was very meaningful. There was an abundance of love and care for each other. The values, such as faith, honesty, righteousness, respect for the elderly, personal responsibilities, to be industrious and eager to learn, that I cherish today, were instilled at home,” he said. “We were practically sheltered from the outside world’s negative influence.”

Normal life came to an end in September 1939. “Since my hometown was close to the German border, we were urged to flee to the interior of Poland,” he said. “By horse and wagon, we managed to trek about 50 miles until the German invading army caught up with us.” Wiener’s father hired the horse and wagon to transport his family, but he did not join in the attempted escape because the Polish retreating army ordered him to stay behind and supply it with provisions stored at his business.

“My father was shot, left to bleed and eventually to expire, and thrown into a pit together with 36 other victims, by German soldiers,” he said. “When public transportation was partially restored, my stepmother, two brothers and I trekked back to our home in Chrzanów. The apartment was looted, and the worst of all, we could not find out the whereabouts of our father.” His father’s body was identified after the pit was opened.

As anti-Semitism increased, Wiener was forbidden to attend school or practice his faith. At age 15, he was taken from home and sent to a concentration camp, where he was given very little food, and he regularly witnessed beatings and deaths. For three years, he moved from labor camp to labor camp, until the Russians freed him from Gross Masselwitz in May 1945.

One Amazon.com reviewer of Weiner’s book has written: "Alter honestly and poignantly relates his loss of normal adolescence because of the Holocaust, and his lifelong journey to overcome the past. Alter's willingness to share painful memories, both through speaking and through writing, is motivated by his desire to eliminate hate, vengeance and intolerance in the world.”

Weiner says he believes that people should "judge each individual on his own merits and not on the color of the hair or the color of the eye or the color of the skin...This is my main lesson. To my understanding, all the problems that we have in the world today come from the same root of prejudice. It's senseless. Prejudice and stereotyping are absurd. We are all God's children. You're going to find good people and bad people."

Submit your community news for CM Calendar & Cedar Mill News

Local organizations are invited to submit information about their events and activities to The Cedar Mill News. Publication is free for community groups and businesses. Please use the form provided on the website to submit information. If your submission meets the guidelines, it will appear in the online edition and on the Cedar Mill Community Calendar, and may also appear in the printed and PDF editions, space permitting. For information about what kinds of news we publish, please review: http://cedarmill.org/news/CMNews_guidelines.html.

Walk + Bike to School Day October 9

Eighteen Beaverton schools will join more than 1,780 schools registered to take part in International Walk + Bike to School Day on Wednesday, October 9. Schools from 50 US states and 42 nations will participate.

The annual event promotes walking and biking for: increased physical activity, reduced traffic and air pollution near schools, improved safety of school-area traffic, increased awareness of neighborhoods' walkability, and the chance to teach children how to walk and bike safely.

Participating schools in the area near Cedar Mill include Bonny Slope, Oak Hills, Rock Creek and West Tualatin View elementary schools, and Cedar Park Middle School.

For information on how to plan a Walk + Bike event, call the Beaverton School District office of public safety at 503-591-1911. Or email Lynne Mutrie at lynne@oregonsaferoutes.org.

Sunset Band Classic

Please save the date for the 25th Annual Sunset Classic Marching Band Competition! This event will be held Saturday, October 26 at Hillsboro Stadium. Thirteen top local bands will be participating along with a performance by Cedar Park and Meadow Park Middle Schools. The 25th Sunset Classic will also mark Band Director Greg Hall's 30th year of excellent High School music direction. Sunset Alumni are encouraged to attend and to cheer on their Apollo Band.

The 25th Annual Sunset Classic Title Sponsor is Carl Stall and Country Financial. We greatly appreciate Country Financial's generous support of music education for our students!

Museum After Dark Halloween theme October 10 in Hillsboro

Seldom-seen and unusual artifacts from the collections, creepy stories from local, professional storyteller Anne Rutherford, a cast of "dearly departed" guests from Washington County history, and a happy hour of Halloween-themed food and drink will be featured from 5:13-8:13 pm at the October 10 Museum After Dark party at Washington County Museum.

Tickets for "A Curator's Closet of Curiosities" are available to adults 21 and older for $12 per person, or $10 per person for groups of five and more, at the museum admission desk and by phone at 503-645-5353. Supporting members get free admission. The museum is at 120 E. Main St., Hillsboro, at the downtown Hillsboro Civic Center Plaza.

Rutherford will assume the role of the "creepy curator" and spin some spooky stories involving objects on display. Portraying deceased guests from Washington County's past will be actors from Hart Theater and a local historical re-enactment group. They will mingle with museum guests and share stories of their past lives.

The event features a display of rarely-exhibited objects from the museum's collection, including a "dead case." Marcia Hale, director of guest services and creator of the event said: "This artifact looks like a giant wicker bread basket with matching lid. The basket was used before the advent of rolling gurneys to transport dead bodies back to the mortuary."

Another object on display is a human skull, "part of a donation from a dental office here in Washington County," Hale said. "I had great fun looking through our collections of old farm implements, finding items that were quite functional and ordinary-looking on the farm, but taken out of that context and just sitting on a shelf, look kind of creepy."

Museum After Dark events happen quarterly. The next event after October's will be December 5, focusing on prohibition and showcasing Washington County's colorful bootleg past and current business of craft distilleries. Information about adults-only Museum After Dark events and other museum information can be found at www.washingtoncountymuseum.org.

The Museum is located on the second floor of the Plaza building, above Starbucks. It is open Wednesday-Saturday 10-5 and Sundays noon-5. Regular admission is $6, or $4 for students, seniors and military. Members get free admission.

Fire department lifts burn ban

In late September, after wet weather rendered Washington County less flammable, county fire chiefs lifted the ban on outdoor burning. Persons wishing to conduct open field burning must call the open-burning information line at 503-629-8605. No such burning is allowed within the permanent burn-ban boundaries. For more information, see www.tvfr.com or call Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue.